When she handed back his flask with a benign smile, Jack relaxed.
“Who’s piloting today?” Charlotte asked.
“I am!” The shout came from above. Scoff’s lavender hair was in its usual state of disarray. Though the purple hue was something new. Forgoing the last few stairs, he hopped over the iron rail and landed on the dock with the grace of a cat.
Jack frowned at Scoff. “Weren’t you at the wheelhouse all night?”
Scoff bobbed his head. “I was, but I promise I’m perfectly alert. I am currently under the miraculous sway of my Perpetuation tonic. Keeps you going as long as you need.”
He leaned toward Jack, whispering, “Plus, it enhances virility.”
“And turns your hair purple?” Jack asked.
“A harmless side effect that wears off once you’ve stopped dosing yourself.”
“Any other harmless consequences of this tonic?” Jack sidled away from Scoff.
“The smell,” Scoff said.
Jack took another step away.
“I don’t smell anything,” Charlotte said.
“Sniff my hair.” Scoff pointed to his head.
Though Jack drew a finger across his throat, Charlotte took a whiff of Scoff’s purple tresses.
“Oh, that’s lovely.” Charlotte laughed. “It smells of lilac.”
“Lilac being an essential component of Perpetuation tonic,” Scoff pronounced.
“I don’t want to look or smell like a lilac,” Jack said. “No matter the benefits.”
“Charlotte?” Scoff turned hopeful eyes on her when he produced a stoppered glass bottle from inside his long gray coat. “Purple hair would suit you. I would even go so far to say it would highlight those lovely green eyes of yours.”
“Maybe later.” This time Charlotte took a step back. “I’m quite awake. Thank you.”
“It’s too bad Pip isn’t coming,” Scoff mused. “I’m sure she’d try it.”
“You’ve already turned her hair the color of Charlotte’s eyes,” Jack said. “Leave the poor girl be.”
Scoff returned the bottle to his coat pocket. “She’s perfectly happy with her green hair. And she no longer gets headaches.”
“Good for her,” Jack muttered.
The smart rap of a cane on the iron railing drew their attention. Ash paused on the last step of the spiral staircase, looking down at them.
“Are we ready to board?”
“Yes, sir.” Scoff bowed.
“New hair, Scoff?” Ash raised a brow.
Reaching for his coat pocket, Scoff began, “As a matter of fact, perhaps I could interest you—”
“He’s not interested.” Jack pushed Scoff to the end of the dock.
Ash started along the dock, pausing beside his sister.
“I trust you slept well?”
Like Jack, he waited for her to lay into him about tossing her out of his room. Charlotte offered him a serene smile instead, and his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Shall we away, dear brother?” she asked, taking his arm.
“Whatever you please, sweet sister,” Ash said with a shake of his head. “I don’t know what you’re planning. But it won’t work.”
“Planning?” She fluttered her eyelashes at him. “Me?”
Ash grimaced, but didn’t press her as they approached the gangplank.
The Pisces was half submerged to allow for boarding; only the curve of her back and the arc of her dorsal fin were visible. The rest of the ship’s body was cloaked by dark water, but below the surface, her belly swelled, giving them plenty of room for cargo or passengers. Charlotte knew that Scoff had reached the bridge when a golden luminescence glimmered beneath the lake’s gently rippling surface. She could just make out the shape of the Pisces’s smaller side fins and massive tail. The entire submersible was covered in hammered metal scales that shifted from bright gold to onyx as they opened and closed, channeling water that would help power the vessel.
With only his head and shoulders sticking out of the hatch, Jack called to Ash and Charlotte, “Are you having a family moment? Should I tell Scoff to shut her down?”
Charlotte said to Ash, “I expect you to hit him with your cane once we’re aboard.”
“Who am I to deny the wishes of my only sister?” Ashley winked at her.
Charlotte climbed the steep ramp to the hatch. The folds of her leather skirt beat against her ankles as she moved. The skirt was heavy but the best choice for a scavenging run as it offered better protection against cuts and burns than cloth.
She descended the ladder into the ship’s belly, smiling at Jack as she passed him, and headed to the passenger seats at the rear of the bridge.
“What is that smile about?” Jack asked, watching her go by.
She didn’t answer, but laughed a moment later when she heard the thwack of Ash’s cane and Jack’s shout.
Charlotte ducked her way through the narrow tube connecting the hatch to the bridge. She took her place in the row of seats behind Scoff and buckled herself into the leather harness.
“We all set?” Scoff asked without turning around.
Ash dropped into the seat beside Charlotte and pulled the harness over his shoulders. “In a minute. Jack’s heading to the dorsal cannon.”
“You think we’ll need the cannon?” Charlotte asked.
“Not likely,” Ash told her. “But he insisted. I think he’s sore I hit him with my cane.”
“Poor Jack.” Charlotte grinned at her brother, and he winked.
Scoff pulled the navigator’s helm down. Brass and leather covered his head and shoulders, and he adjusted the fit so the Pisces’s telescoping eyes matched up with his vision.
Jack’s voice came piping into the bridge. “I’m strapped into the cannon.”
Ash pulled a tube that dangled from the ceiling toward his face. “Thanks, Jack. We’ll be off, then.”
Scoff’s hands began flying over the cranks and gears that formed a half circle around him. With a soft rumble, the Pisces came to life. Bubbles floated up around them.
“Here we go!” Scoff pushed two levers forward, and the Pisces knifed through the water. They dove down, and soon Charlotte’s ears popped. With the crank of a wheel, two bright beams shot out from below the glass sphere at the front of the ship. The lights shone against rock as they descended, leveling out when they reached a gaping black hole in the wall.